The Navigator Cometh

It was 396 years after the Coming of Estarra when, shortly after the First World saw the end of another Great Hunt, that the Elder Darvellan, the Navigator, returned. Having found the beacon left in the Void, Darvellan appeared in His newly made fulcrux within Avechna’s Peak, announcing His happiness at being home once more. It was then He heard the voices of the shards of His Cousins explaining to Him that many of those He knew had departed, died, or splintered into the shards He heard shouting.

Soon after this revelation, many of the mortals made their way to the Navigator’s fulcrux, arriving moments before Lisaera came to greet Darvellan and welcome Him home. While the Ethereal Maiden had but little time, She was able to inform Darvellan of some of the affairs that had changed the First World, notably those of Fain and his coterie, for Darvellan had left prior to Fain’s betrayal. Indeed, those present started wondering as to why Darvellan departed so soon from the First World, some believing it to even be for cowardly reasons.

Although Lisaera had to depart elsewhere, the Navigator stayed with those in His fulcrux for a spell, hearing their questions and even being given a brain by one strange shard. Taking a liking to the ones who claimed to be shards of His friend Meridian, Darvellan went to see their city, New Celest, and the anchored plane of Celestia. From there He traveled to the plane of Nil, where He saw for the first time the results of the touch of the Soulless since His departure. Expressing a dislike for the place, the Navigator returned to Celest’s nexus, and visited each of the other nexii in turn, saving for the one anchored to the plane of Nil. After briefly visiting the nexii and speaking with those there, He arrived once more in New Celest, where He received a short, partial tour of the city before departing from sight.

But what of His reasons for leaving the First World so soon after Amberle was lost to the Soulless? And how did one known as ‘the Navigator’ get so lost for so long in the Void? These and other questions filled the mind of the Basin’s inhabitants after the Navigator’s return.